Knightswood Secondary's campus cop post has been created as a result of a two year campaign, supported by the West End school's head teacher Kay Dingwall.

Ms Dingwall, who took up her role in May last year, was previously at Cleveden Secondary School, which has its own campus police officer.

She said: "The plan is for the officer to get involved with the pupils, working within the community to teach pupils about social responsibility. The officer would also help educate pupils about issues such as substance misuse and offer them alternatives to crime."

Knightswood Secondary has around 1400 pupils, making it one of the largest in the city.

The officer's role will be to get to know the young people, act as a friend and mentor and instill pupils with a respect for the police and the law.

Ms Dingwall said the role would also involve tackling more serious issues, such as gang fighting and anti-social behaviour, including vandalism.

She said: "The community extends to quite a distance and we have pupils from all over the area. We are looking at working with Clydebank High School to tackle issues surrounding territorialism across the area and gang fighting.

"It may be historical but it still exists so we have to look into it."

It is expected that the campus cop will take up his or her post after the school holidays in October. The position has received £32,000 in funding from Strathclyde Police and the Glasgow West Local Community Planning Partnership. The post will run until June but it is hoped it will be renewed.

Councillor Jonathan Findlay, who has been campaigning for a campus officer for the past two years, said it was a positive move for the school.

The Drumchapel and Anniesland councillor said: "This is not a reflection on the school or its pupils, but a recognition that a school community with nearly 1500 young people would benefit greatly from a police officer being based on campus."

rachel.loxton@ eveningtimes.co.uk